Colossal’s 'Dire Wolves'
Living Symbols Of Both Scientific Progress And Controversy
Romulus celebrates 1st Birthday with a custom made cake from Mishka dog bakery in San Francisco, CA.
When Colossal Biosciences unveiled its two living dire wolves, Romulus and Remus, a year ago, it made headlines around the world. The announcement — equal parts science and spectacle — symbolized a bold new frontier: the practical application of de-extinction technology.
For Matt James, Colossal’s Chief Animal Officer, the wolves’ first birthday marks more than a milestone in a lab. “Our dire wolves are both a proof of the concept of de-extinction and a practical step towards using de-extinction and its related technologies to reverse and prevent the loss of biodiversity,” he says. “Romulus and Remus represent an amazing opportunity for us to display the possibilities that de-extinction presents but, more importantly, they provide the world's first opportunity to study and optimize de-extinction not just in a lab but in their ecosystems.”
For Colossal, this is a proof of concept — and a branding moment. The Dallas-based company, co-founded by entrepreneur Ben Lamm and Harvard geneticist George Church, has positioned itself as the face of de-extinction, with parallel projects aiming to bring back the woolly mammoth, thylacine, and dodo.
But while Romulus and Remus are living symbols of what synthetic biology can do, the scientific community remains divided over what exactly they represent — and what might come next.
From Lab Innovation to Ecosystem Tools
James is quick to point out that Colossal’s work isn’t just about bringing back long-lost species. The technologies behind it — gene editing, stem cell manipulation, and reproductive biology — have wider value.
“Every tool in the de-extinction tool kit has broad bioscience and conservation values,” he explains. “Our rapid improvements in gene editing have unlocked opportunities for multiplex gene editing and improved efficiencies in a way that open up tools to conservationists to protect species against disease or to other biotechnology fields to accelerate their research.”
He points to advances that could aid species on the brink of extinction, such as the northern white rhino, through improved reproductive techniques. “Our success with induced pluripotent stem cells unlocks innumerable opportunities for other researchers to understand the power of stem cell research.”
Indeed, scientists outside Colossal acknowledge that these effects of the company’s work — even if its ultimate goals remain controversial — could make lasting contributions to conservation and biomedicine. The Guardian noted recently that Colossal’s related work on gene editing for the dodo has been called “a pivotal step in reviving lost species,” even if true de-extinction remains elusive. And ecologist Doug Armstrong, quoted in Mongabay, warned that de-extinction can create “false hope and perverse incentives” — potentially diverting funding from more urgent conservation priorities like habitat protection.
What Is a “True” Dire Wolf?
Much of the debate around Romulus and Remus centers on terminology: are they genuinely “de-extinct” animals, or genetically modified gray wolves with some ancient traits reintroduced?
James offers a clear definition. “De-extinction is the concept of using emerging biotechnologies to re-create a species that was lost to extinction. To do so we use genomic sequencing, gene editing, and reproductive science tools to engineer a close living relative of an extinct species until it most closely resembles the lost species.”
That approach — using the gray wolf genome as a base and editing it to include key dire wolf traits — leads James to call the results “true” dire wolves. “While our dire wolves may not have the same exact genomic sequence as a dire wolf from 20,000 years ago, it has the same phenotypes and functional abilities and is therefore a dire wolf.”
Critics including stem cell biologist Jeanne Loring disagree, but you could argue that this also is what makes the company fascinating: it is forcing a global conversation about what “species” and “extinction” really mean in the 21st century.
Beyond De-Extinction: A Platform Company
Colossal is more than a single project. James describes it as an “end-to-end de-extinction pipeline” that merges computational biology, AI, robotics, sequencing, and genetic engineering.
“This platform can be leveraged not just for conservation and de-extinction but to develop a whole host of products for industrial, agricultural, and human health care use cases,” he says. “Also, the individual pieces of the various inventions and innovations created by Colossal can be spun out into their own companies such as From Bio or Breaking.”
That modular model — spinning off innovations from a central platform — has been key to attracting investors, from Silicon Valley names like Thomas Tull to Paris Hilton’s venture firm. It also helps balance investor expectations with the inherently long timelines of species restoration.
“Our investors are well educated on the timelines of de-extinction and are bought into the timelines for rewild de-extincted animals,” James says. “The success of the dire wolf shows that the timelines for de-extinction are not nearly as long as many may believe.”
Still, others urge caution. Ars Technica noted that the idea of “scaling up” de-extinction risks overselling how close these technologies are to ecological deployment. While lab work can move quickly, rewilding — placing these animals in functional ecosystems — introduces a web of unpredictable variables, from prey availability to climate.
Balancing Innovation and Credibility
James insists that Colossal’s mission is “first and foremost practical, applied science and conservation.” He acknowledges that publishing academic papers is not the company’s main priority: “We are less focused on publishing papers and more focused on creating tools to help in the global fight against biodiversity loss.”
It’s an understandable stance for a venture-backed company — but one that fuels scientific skepticism. James, however, points to the credibility of the scientists Colossal employs — among them Andrew Pask, Beth Shapiro, and George Church, all leaders in their fields. “Taking time away from the lab for our scientists to publish does not fulfill that mission,” he says. “But, when appropriate, we will publish specific papers that we think benefit the greater scientific community’s understanding of a subject.”
For now, Colossal’s credibility may rest less on papers than on tangible outcomes: technical advances that spill over into conservation, reproductive science, and cellular biology.
Mammoths, Thylacines, and the Road Ahead
Romulus and Remus are not an endpoint, but a beginning. Colossal’s next projects — the woolly mammoth and the thylacine — are already underway.
“Each of our species restoration projects have their own unique set of challenges and advantages,” says James. “We do not necessarily need to ‘scale up’ to mammoths and thylacines, those projects have been underway for a few years and are each making the necessary advances to get us to successful de-extinction. Both projects require advances in reproductive science that will accelerate their success but also create tools for the conservation of related endangered species.”
In other words: the dire wolves are a template, not an anomaly. The same reproductive and genetic technologies used here could, in theory, enable future reintroductions — if ecosystems can still accommodate them.
Yet ecologists remind us that those ecosystems have changed profoundly. The environments that supported dire wolves, mammoths, or thylacines no longer exist in their original form. Reintroducing engineered proxies carries ecological and ethical risks. “Rewilding” cannot simply mean re-creating the past. It must anticipate the needs and pressures of a rapidly changing climate.
The Promise — and the Peril — of De-Extinction
Despite the controversies, it’s hard to dismiss what Colossal has achieved in a remarkably short time. In twelve months, the company has demonstrated real advances in multiplex gene editing, stem cell reprogramming, and reproductive biotechnology — each with potential applications far beyond de-extinction.
“Colossal is the de-extinction brand and will continue to focus on de-extinction," says James. "Our technologies open up possibilities for other fields of science and, where appropriate, we will expand our work into those areas but de-extinction will always be the heart of Colossal.”
That heart beats in Romulus and Remus — two wolves that may never perfectly match their Ice Age ancestors, but which embody a powerful question: can technology not only preserve life, but restore it?
For Colossal, the answer is yes. For the scientific community, the jury is still out. But in either case, the debate itself may be the most important step of all.